U.S. patent application number 13/283580 was filed with the patent office on 2012-02-16 for systems and methods for monitoring pill taking.
Invention is credited to Alan An Thuan Tran, Bao Q. Tran.
Application Number | 20120038226 13/283580 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39358833 |
Filed Date | 2012-02-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20120038226 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Tran; Alan An Thuan ; et
al. |
February 16, 2012 |
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MONITORING PILL TAKING
Abstract
Systems and methods are disclosed for operating electronic
components in a device by separating the devices into a high power
group and a low power group; constantly powering the low power
group; providing a movable device coupled to power when the device
is moved; and providing power to the high power group when the
device is moved.
Inventors: |
Tran; Alan An Thuan; (San
Jose, CA) ; Tran; Bao Q.; (San Jose, CA) |
Family ID: |
39358833 |
Appl. No.: |
13/283580 |
Filed: |
October 28, 2011 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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11588197 |
Oct 24, 2006 |
8068931 |
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13283580 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
307/116 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A61J 7/04 20130101; G16H
40/67 20180101; G07F 9/026 20130101; A61J 2200/30 20130101; A61J
7/0084 20130101; A61J 7/0418 20150501; A61J 7/0436 20150501; G16H
20/13 20180101; G07F 11/62 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
307/116 |
International
Class: |
H01H 35/00 20060101
H01H035/00 |
Claims
1. A method for operating electronic components in a device,
comprising: a. separating the devices into a high power group and a
low power group; b. constantly powering the low power group; c.
providing a movable device coupled to power when the device is
moved; and d. providing power to the high power group when the
device is moved.
2. The method of claim 1, comprising generating an alarm when the
device is tilted.
3. The method of claim 1, comprising wirelessly transmitting data
to a computer.
4. The method of claim 1, comprising allowing one or more
authorized persons to review the data.
5. The method of claim 1, comprising moving a pendulum to an
electrode to detect a tilt condition.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the moveable device comprises one
of: a door open switch, a door closed switch, a motion sensor, a
pendulum, an accelerometer, a magnetic sensor.
7. The method of claim 1, comprising moving a moveable device to an
electrode to detect movement.
8. The method of claim 7, comprising operating the moveable device
with zero power consumption, wherein the moveable device causes
power to be provided to the high power group.
9. A method for operating electronic components in a device,
comprising: a. separating the devices into a high power group and a
low power group; b. constantly providing power to the low power
group; c. detecting movement with a moving sensor that consumes
zero power by itself; and d. providing power to the high power
group when the device is moved.
10. The method of claim 9, comprising generating an alarm when the
device is tilted.
11. The method of claim 9, comprising wirelessly transmitting data
to a computer.
12. The method of claim 11, comprising allowing one or more
authorized persons to review data.
13. The method of claim 9, comprising moving a sensor to an
electrode to detect a tilt condition.
14. The method of claim 9, wherein the sensor comprises one of: a
door open switch, a door closed switch, a motion sensor, a
pendulum, an accelerometer, a magnetic sensor.
15. A device, comprising: a. a high power group including a
processor; b. a low power group; c. a power source coupled to the
low power group; and d. a sensor coupled to the power source and
the high power group, the sensor applying power to the high power
group when the sensor detects movement.
16. The device of claim 15, comprising one or more switches each
coupled to a compartment door to detect a compartment door
opening.
17. The device of claim 16, wherein each switch comprises a first
electrically conductive portion on the compartment door adapted to
contact a second electrically conductive portion on a wall adapted
to contact the door.
18. The device of claim 15, comprising a transmitter wirelessly
coupled to a remote computer and wherein the computer allows one or
more authorized persons to review the data.
19. The device of claim 15, wherein the transmitter communicates
with a mesh network.
20. The device of claim 15, wherein the sensor comprises one of: a
door open switch, a door closed switch, a motion sensor, a
pendulum, an accelerometer, a magnetic sensor.
Description
[0001] This application is a continuation of application Ser. No.
11/588,197, filed Oct. 24, 2010, the content of which is
incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND
[0002] This invention relates to pill dispensers.
[0003] The usage of pills to regain and maintain health has
increased with the advancement of medical science. It is not
unusual for a person to take more than one type of pill, each type
in a different amount, at regular times each day. The task of
correctly taking several different types of pills pose a challenge
to many individuals, especially the elderly, the mentally infirm,
and the obtunded who are more susceptible to memory problems. The
improper taking of pills may be detrimental to health, and many
emergency hospital admissions are attributable to improper
observance of pill prescriptions.
[0004] The need for a device that will automatically dispense the
proper pill(s) in the proper amount(s) at the proper time(s) each
day and alert the user of the device to take the dispensed pill(s)
is evident by the numerous devices described in the prior art.
However, there are problems with the devices described in the prior
art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,606 to Lewis et al. (1986),
U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,651 to Scidmore et al. (1987), U.S. Pat. No.
4,838,453 to Luckstead (1989), and 5,044,516 to Hoar (1991)
describe automatic pill dispensers which have pill-storage wheels
that are rotated constantly by electric clock motors. The
constantly rotating pill-storage wheels of these devices
successively move each pill-storage compartment of the wheel into a
temporary alignment with a pill discharge outlet at a cyclical and
fixed time interval. When a pill-storage compartment is in
alignment with the pill discharge outlet, any pill stored in the
compartment will fall by gravity through the outlet into a pill
receptacle. The length of the fixed time interval of these devices
cannot be changed without changing the gear drive ratio of the gear
system driving the pill-storage wheel. Discharging pills at fixed
time intervals makes these devices inefficient and difficult to
use. For example, if one of these devices constantly rotates three
pill-storage compartments past its pill discharge outlet in a
24-hour period, but only one pill is needed each day, then only one
pill-storage compartment is used and two are kept empty each
24-hour day. In this case, two out of three pill-storage
compartments have no use. In addition, during the process of
loading pills into the pill storage wheel, specific compartments
must be kept empty; this makes the loading procedure more
complicated and susceptible to error.
[0005] Another problem with all of these devices is the possibility
of an overdose of dispensed pills. This may result when a device
dispenses pills into the pill receptacle, but the person taking the
dispensed pills for some reason did not respond to the alert signal
or just turned off the alert signal without taking the pills. If
the dispensed pills are not removed from the pill receptacle and
more pills are discharged into the receptacle, overdosing with
harmful consequences may occur if the pill taker consumes all of
the pills accumulated in the pill receptacle all at once.
[0006] Benaroya in U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,403 (1983), and Shaw in U.S.
Pat. No. 5,176,285 (1993) attempt to overcome these deficiencies.
The devices of Benaroya and Shaw include pill-storage wheels which
rotate into position for discharging pills only when the pills are
to be dispensed. A pill is not released from Shaw's pill-storage
wheel unless a motorized mechanism is actuated to remove the pill,
making an accumulation of discharged pills less likely. However,
Shaw's device is complicated, difficult to load with pills and use,
and uses motors and controls which are neither simple nor
economical. Pills to be dispensed by Benoroya's device are not
automatically discharged by gravity into a fixed or removable pill
receptacle. The pills stay in the pill-storage wheel until the user
tilts or turns the device upside down to dump out the pills. While
this feature makes overdosing from an accumulation of discharged
pills unlikely, the need to manipulate the device by tilting or
turning it upside down and catching the pills before they fall on
the floor makes its operation ackward and clumsy.
[0007] U.S. Pat. No. 6,510,962 describes a device that can be
loaded with appropriate pills and programmed to automatically
dispense the proper amount(s) and proper type(s) of pill(s) at the
proper time(s) each day. The device includes a system for alerting
the pill taker that pills have been dispensed, a system for
providing voice messages to coach the pill taker to use the device
and consume the pills, and a system for alerting an off-site
caregiver when the pill taker has not responded as required or when
there is a problem with the operation of the device.
[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 6,449,218 describes an electronic device for
holding medicines, typically pills, to be taken at different times
and to remind the user to take particular pills at specific times.
A first container has a plurality of pill holding compartments,
with a hinged lid closing each compartment. A second container,
which is releasably fastenable to the first compartment, contains a
microprocessor, an alarm, a display and buttons for controlling the
microprocessor to display different information. The display can be
set to show the time, times for taking pills from different
compartments, whether pills have been taken on time, if a pill has
been missed or skipped, when the last pill has been taken, etc.
When a time set for taking a pill arrives, an alarm, typically a
light and/or sound alarm, alerts the user as to the compartment
holding the pill to be taken. A pill splitter is further provided
that can be releasably fastened to one of the compartments and
provides quick, accurate and safe splitting of pills so that halves
may be placed in the compartments to be taken as indicated by the
alarm system.
SUMMARY
[0009] In one aspect, systems and methods are disclosed for
operating electronic components in a device by separating the
devices into a high power group and a low power group; constantly
powering the low power group; providing a movable device coupled to
power when the device is moved; and providing power to the high
power group when the device is moved.
[0010] In another aspect, a method for operating electronic
components in a device includes separating the devices into a high
power group and a low power group; constantly providing power to
the low power group; detecting movement with a moving sensor that
consumes zero power by itself; and providing power to the high
power group when the device is moved.
[0011] In yet another aspect, a device includes a high power group
including a processor; a low power group; a power source coupled to
the low power group; and a sensor coupled to the power source and
the high power group, the sensor applying power to the high power
group when the sensor detects movement.
[0012] In other aspects, a method for dispensing one or more pills
from a pill box includes applying power when the one or more pills
are poured from the pill box; identifying an opened compartment and
an opening time; and recording the opened compartment and the
opening time.
[0013] Implementations of the above method can include one or more
of the following. The system can check the opening time against one
or more medication constraints. The medical constraint includes
taking medication on a full stomach, a non-empty stomach or taking
medication on an empty stomach. The system can generate an alarm if
medication is taken without meeting the appropriate food
restriction. For example, if the medication is taken around normal
lunch time when the medication should have been taken on an empty
stomach, the system provides a warning and reports the event. The
system can also check for multiple compartment openings during one
medication dispensing event and appropriate alarm(s) can be
generated if there is a compliance issue. The system can wirelessly
transmit the recorded opened compartment and opening time to a
computer such as a patient computer, a cell phone, a remote server
through the patient computer over the Internet, or a remote server
using Bluetooth and cellular channel. One or more authorized
persons can review the medication dispensing. The system can also
automatically request a medication refill from a pharmacy or from a
doctor, for example.
[0014] In another aspect, a medication pill box includes a
processor to detect one or more compartment openings for a pill
box; a power source; and a pill dispensing sensor coupled to the
power source and the processor, the pill dispensing sensor applying
power to the processor when one or more pills are poured from the
pill box.
[0015] Implementations of the above method can include one or more
of the following. The pill box has one or more switches each
coupled to a pill box compartment door to detect a compartment door
opening. The switch can be a first electrically conductive portion
on the compartment door adapted to contact a second electrically
conductive portion on a pill box wall adapted to contact the door.
The processor can check a door opening time against one or more
medication constraints. The medical constraint can include taking
medication on one of: a full stomach, a non-empty stomach and an
empty stomach. The processor can also check for multiple
compartment openings during one medication dispensing event. A
wireless transmitter can send the recorded opened compartment and
opening time to a computer. The computer allows one or more
authorized persons to review the medication dispensing. The system
can also automatically request a medication refill when the
medication is almost completely dispensed. The tilt sensor such as
a pendulum, an accelerometer, or a magnetic sensor can be used. The
pill dispensing sensor can be a door open switch, a door closed
switch, a motion sensor, a pendulum, an accelerometer, or a
magnetic sensor. The system provides a built-in secure compartment
for storing the pills. The system also assists users, especially
those suffering from senility or deterioration of mental function,
in complying with their prescriptions. The system avoids the
situation where users may simply deactivate the pill alert signal
as they would do when turning off an alarm clock, and forget to
take the dispensed pills. The system provides special instructions
that the pill taker must follow in consuming the dispensed pills,
such as taking the dispensed pills with plenty of liquids, or food,
and the pill taker may forget these instructions. The system
automatically determines when to refill the dispenser with pills.
The system can automatically request a refill from a doctor and
forward the refill prescription to a pharmacy for filling. Patient
safety is enhanced while the cost of emergency treatment due to
non-compliance is reduced. Further, the system's wireless
monitoring of drug compliance is cost-effective and convenient to
the patient.
BRIED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0016] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary system that tracks medication
taken by a patient.
[0017] FIG. 2 shows an exemplary mesh network for data transmission
by the system of FIG. 1.
[0018] FIG. 3 shows an exemplary pill box.
[0019] FIGS. 4A-4B show exemplary closed and open states for a
pill-dispensing detector in the pill box of FIG. 3.
[0020] FIG. 5 shows an exemplary method for dispensing one or more
pills from the pill box and collecting medication compliance
information.
[0021] FIG. 6 shows an exemplary method for dispensing
pills/compliance monitoring and collecting patient data as well as
providing educational information to the patient regarding the
treatment using the pill box.
DESCRIPTION
[0022] FIG. 1 shows an exemplary system that tracks medication
taken by a patient. In this system, a power source 10 such as a
battery provides power for a pill box 44 (as shown in FIG. 3). A
pill pouring detector is used to connect the power terminal of the
power source 10 to a control electronic 20 when pills are poured
from the pill box 44 so that the patient can take the
medication.
[0023] In one embodiment, the pill pouring detector is a
tilt-sensor. The tilt-sensor can include a pendulum 12 that
contacts an electrode 14 when the pills are poured from its
respective compartment. A wire 11 connects the pendulum 12 to the
power source 10 at terminal A, while a wire 13 connects the
electrode 14 to the control electronic 20 at terminal B.
[0024] The pendulum 12 can be connected to an optional spring (not
shown) to enable the pendulum 12 to contact the electrode 14
quickly. In one embodiment, one end of the spring is attached to
the pill box and the other end attached to the top of the pendulum
12. The spring assists the pendulum to touch the electrode 14,
thereby forming a conductive circuit for powering the electronic
20. The pendulum 12 can also be connected to an optional return
spring (not shown) to enable the pendulum 12 to separate
quickly.
[0025] The electrode 14 can also have an optional magnet (not
shown) to attract the pendulum 12. In other embodiments, an
accelerometer can be used to sense motion, or a magnet sensor can
be used to detect the pill-pouring act by the patient. In yet other
embodiments, a photo-detector or a camera can be positioned
underneath the pill box to sense the presence or absence of pill(s)
after the door is opened, for example. Other approaches can be used
to detect pill pouring as well.
[0026] The control electronic 20 can be an integrated processor and
radio system-on-a-chip. In one embodiment, the control electronic
20 can be a mesh network system such as ZigBee system, for example.
Suitable control electronic 20 can include one chip solutions from
Freescale and Texas Instruments/ChipCon, among others. The control
electronic 20 has integrated mesh-network wireless transceivers, in
this case ZigBee transceivers whose network features are described
in more details in FIG. 2. The processor can maintain clock data
using interrupt handling, or alternatively a real-time clock chip
can be used to provide time of day information with precision.
[0027] In one implementation, the doors and corresponding door tabs
that keep the door secured when closed are made of a conductive
material such as silver or conductive plastics. When closed, the
door and the door tab are electrically shorted together and thus
form a circuit. When opened, the door and the door tab are
electrically isolated, and the closing or opening of each door can
be determined by sampling the current or voltage present on each
door. The data input and output pins of the processor can be
connected to door opening detection switches 16 using suitable
pull-up resistors 18. Alternatively, pull-down resistors can be
used to detect door openings/closings. The door opening/closing
sensor is one type of pill dispensing sensor, and other sensors can
include a motion sensor (such as PIR sensor), a pendulum, an
accelerometer, or a magnetic sensor.
[0028] Optionally, a power switch 19 can be provided to allow the
control electronic 20 sufficient time to complete its operation
before releasing power in case the pendulum 12 separates from the
electrode 14 before the control electronic 20 is ready. When power
is initially applied by the pendulum 12, the control electronic 20
turns on the switch 19 to assure that power will be available as
long as needed. When the control electronic 20 is done, it disables
the power switch 19 to cut off power. The power switch 19 can be an
electromechanical relay or a power transistor or any other suitable
switches. The use of the pendulum 12 thus conserves battery energy
and the use of the power switch 19 enables an orderly shut-down by
the control electronic 20.
[0029] The control electronics 20 communicate wirelessly with a
computer 20 which is connected to a wide area network 30 such as
the Internet. The computer 20 can be a home server which authorized
persons can log-in to monitor drug usage by the patient.
Alternatively, the computer 20 can transfer data over the WAN 30 to
a remote server which centralizes data from the patient for one or
more groups to review.
[0030] FIG. 2 shows an exemplary mesh network for medication
compliance data transmission by the system of FIG. 1. In one
embodiment, the mesh network is an IEEE 802.15.4 (ZigBee) network.
IEEE 802.15.4 defines two device types; the reduced function device
(RFD) and the full function device (FFD). In ZigBee these are
referred to as the ZigBee Physical Device types. In a ZigBee
network a node can have three roles: ZigBee Coordinator, ZigBee
Router, and ZigBee End Device. These are the ZigBee Logical Device
types. The main responsibility of a ZigBee Coordinator is to
establish a network and to define its main parameters (e.g.
choosing a radio-frequency channel and defining a unique network
identifier). One can extend the communication range of a network by
using ZigBee Routers. These can act as relays between devices that
are too far apart to communicate directly. ZigBee End Devices do
not participate in routing. An FFD can talk to RFDs or other FFDs,
while an RFD can talk only to an FFD. An RFD is intended for
applications that are extremely simple, such as a light switch or a
passive infrared sensor; they do not have the need to send large
amounts of data and may only associate with a single FFD at a time.
Consequently, the RFD can be implemented using minimal resources
and memory capacity and have lower cost than an FFD. An FFD can be
used to implement all three ZigBee Logical Device types, while an
RFD can take the role as an End Device. In other embodiments,
Bluetooth transmitters, cellular transmitters, WiFi transmitters,
or WiMax transmitters can be used.
[0031] FIG. 3 shows an exemplary pill box. In this embodiment, the
pill box has a seven-day planners with removable dividers that
allow for 1 or 2 compartments for storing medicine. The pill box
enables the patient to keep all of your medicines organized by day
and time of day (AM/PM). The top of each lid has the first letter
of each day of the week imprinted on it in very large black
letters. In addition each letter can be stamped out in Braille. The
pill box 50 has a door 40 with a conductive tab that acts as a
switch 16. Upon door closure, the switch 16 is closed and upon door
opening, the switch 16 is in an open state to indicate to the
control electronic 20 that the door is in an open state or a closed
state. The switch 16 can be made of a conductive elastomeric
material or a silver ink or any other suitable conductor as long as
the material can handle repetitive door openings and closings.
[0032] FIG. 4A-4B show an exemplary detector in the pill box of
FIG. 3 to detect the pouring of pills from a compartment of the
pill box. FIG. 4A shows a compartment 50 having a door 40 at a rest
(not tilted) position. The electrode 14 is connected to the wire 13
to terminal B, while the pendulum 12 is connected to the wire 11 to
terminal A. The pendulum 12 is swivably mounted on a hinge 15. FIG.
4B shows the pill box being tilted. As a result of the tilt, the
pendulum 12 contacts the electrode 14 to complete the circuit and
provide power to the control electronic 20. This approach turns on
power only when necessary, and thus saves battery life and provides
for a carefree operation where the patient needs not worry about
battery replacement as the pill box can last for years. The pill
box can be designed so that the battery can be replaced.
Alternatively, the pill box can be disposable so that when the
battery is depleted, a new pill box can be used to provide
recurring revenue for the manufacturer.
[0033] FIG. 5 shows an exemplary method for dispensing one or more
pills from the pill box. The method applies power to the control
electronic 20 when the one or more pills are poured from the pill
box (100). The control electronic 20 then identifies an opened
compartment and an opening time (102). As discussed above, the
switches 16 are used to determine the opening of one or more doors
and a real-time clock chip can be used to determine the time of
door opening. The control electronic 20 records the opened
compartment and the opening time (104). The control electronic 20
also checks the opening time against one or more medication
constraints and if so, generates an alarm if the medication
constraint is violated (106). The medical constraints are typically
set by the pharmaceutical company, by the FDA, or by the doctor.
The constraints can be, for example, taking medication on a
non-empty stomach or alternatively can be taking medication on an
empty stomach. The control electronic 20 also checks for multiple
compartment openings during one medication dispensing event and if
so, generates an alarm (108). The control electronic 20 wirelessly
transmits the recorded opened compartment and opening time to a
computer (110) that can be the patient's home computer with a mesh
network wireless communication device mounted therein to receive
the data. The computer can store the data, or can upload the data
to a central server over the Internet 30. The computer or the
server can allow one or more authorized persons to review the
medication dispensing (112) and can also request a medication
refill (114).
[0034] FIG. 6 shows an exemplary method for dispensing
pills/compliance monitoring and collecting patient data as well as
providing educational information to the patient regarding the
treatment using the pill box. The process optionally asks if the
patient would like information about medication and if so display a
summary of the medication, requirements prior to taking medication,
and potential side effects or warnings (200). The information can
be supplied by a pharmacist and downloaded or programmed into the
pill box for display. Alternatively, the pill box can access a
search engine and provide the information to the patient. Next, the
system identifies an opened compartment and an opening time (202)
and records the opened compartment and the opening time (204). The
system checks the opening time against one or more medication
constraints and if so, generates an alarm if the medication
constraint is violated (206). The system can check for multiple
compartment openings during one medication dispensing event and if
so, generate an alarm (208). Optionally, the pill box can query
other devices to collect information on patient (210). For example,
the pill box can prompt the patient to obtain EKG and/or blood
pressure from a suitable device that communicates over the mesh
network. The data is collected and saved by the pill box
electronic. The pillbox can also optionally display one or more
predesigned questions about the user's health and collect answer(s)
from the question(s) (212). Such questionnaires can include
questions on the patient's general feeling and health assessment,
questions on the patient's sugar level and blood pressure,
questions about the type of food, the type of exercise, or any
other questions that a healthcare plan, Medicare/Medicaid, employer
health plan, or other suitable payors or physicians, nursing home
directors, or family members may want the system to collect. The
system then wirelessly transmits the recorded opened compartment(s)
indicative of medication compliance and other collected patient
data to a computer (214). The data is sent to a server and one or
more authorized persons can, upon authentication, review the
medication compliance information and collected patient data (216).
The system can also requests a medication refill if needed
(218).
[0035] In yet another embodiment, a pillbox is positioned on a
scale or weight measurement device. The weight of each pill to be
taken by a person is identified in advance, and the total weight of
all pills to be taken in one batch, for example morning pills, is
determined. When the pillbox is removed and placed back on the
cradle, the new weight of the pillbox is determined. If the new
weight is approximately equal to the old weight minus the total
weight of pills to be taken in one patch, the system infers that
the pills have been removed and (presumably) taken by the patient.
If the new weight is not as expected, an error is indicated so that
the patient, a caretaker, or the physician is notified of a
potential drugl non-compliance.
[0036] While the system above monitors the dispensing one or more
pills from a pill box by applying power when the one or more pills
are poured from the pill box; identifying an opened compartment and
an opening time; and recording the opened compartment and the
opening time, the system can also monitors the pill dispensing by
applying power when the compartment door is opened and then
detecting which door has been opened. Hence, the tilt detector
(such as the pendulum) is not needed in all embodiments.
* * * * *